1 Group

by Patrick Otter

  103 CF had been issued solely with Halifax IIs for its training programme as the squadron was about to begin operations with the aircraft but 460 CF received a mixture of Halifaxes, Lancasters and a few Manchesters, the problematic twin-engined aircraft from which the superb Lancaster evolved. The Manchesters were still at Breighton when 1656 HCU came into being on October 1and one was to be lost in unfortunate circumstances a few days later. Many of those who joined 1 Group units did so via 27 OTU, which was based at Lichfield in Staffordshire. On October 19 one of Breighton’s Manchesters was seen making low passes over a Lichfield public house popular with 27 OTU crews when it clipped a tree and crashed into a field, killing the pilot, F/O Reg Horner, his three Australian crew members and two of the Manchester’s ground crew, who had been taken along for the ride. The report into the crash stated the crew had been ‘stunting’ and had misjudged their height.

  Conversion training got off to a slow start in 1 Group mainly because most squadrons were still flying Wellingtons and would do so well into 1943. More Lancasters were available during this initial stage of HCU work, but even these were not immune from problems and several were to be wrecked in crashes flying from both Lindholme and Blyton. Training involved the whole gamut of operational flying, from circuits to cross-country navigation exercises. It was on one of these that Sgt Eric Wright and his crew vanished on May 22, 1943. It is believed their aircraft may have crashed in the sea and all seven on board are now remembered on the Runnymede Memorial. It was a similar exercise which was to claim the lives of another seven Lindholme men a few weeks later when Sgt Mathew Brown’s Lancaster collided with a 27 OTU Wellington over Brize Norton. Another crew to disappear on a navigation exercise was that of F/Sgt Ted Norman. They had only been at Blyton a matter of days before they left in a Lancaster for what should have been a relatively short flight but nothing was seen of them again.

  The summer of 1943 saw a rapid build-up in activity at both Lindholme and Blyton, with flying going on virtually round the clock as demand for replacement crews for 1 Group’s squadrons increased. As activity increased so did the rate of accidents. Sgt David Loop’s Lancaster hit an unnamed obstruction on the main runway at Blyton as he came into land. The aircraft was wrecked but the crew walked away unscathed only to be killed three months later on operations with 103 Squadron. Many crews didn’t even last that long. F/Sgt Edward Norman’s Lancaster disappeared without trace shortly after he and most of his crew had arrived at Blyton from 27 OTU.

  Eddie West was an airframe fitter with 1662 HCU at Blyton and was there when the unit’s first Lancaster arrived, one of two the unit was to receive initially before it was joined by a number of well-used Halifaxes. It was these which were to prove so problematic for ground crews as well as those who were to fly them.

  ‘One of the problems we had were the wing bolts which had a habit of moving when the air frame was put under stress, as it was every time a Halifax flew,’ he recalled. ‘We had to check them after every few hours of flying and it involved removing a lot of wing panels, which was a very time-consuming operation. Then I came up with an idea. Why not replace the panel over the bolts with a Perspex cover? We tried it and it worked. It was highly unauthorised but it saved us a great deal of time.’

  Frank Campling (second right), the commanding officer of 1 Lancaster Finishing School, who was killed alongside a woman ATA pilot. This photograph dates from the time he was a squadron leader with 460 Squadron at Binbrook, during which time he was awarded a DSO. (Author’s collection)

  Mechanical faults and tyre failures accounted for many of the aircraft written off at 1 Group’s HCUs during the summer of 1943. Typical of them was the Lancaster of Sgt John Cromarty which suffered a complete loss of hydraulics during a night exercise from Lindholme. Cromarty showed great skill in getting his stricken aircraft back and crash landing it on the airfield perimeter. He and his crew went on to fly several operations before being eventually transferred to a Pathfinder squadron, 156 at Warboys in Cambridgeshire before being killed over Berlin in January 1944.

  Bryan Bell was typical of the pilots going through the heavy conversion units in 1943. He and his crew were at Lindholme before being posted to 100 Squadron at Waltham. ‘I just remember that we wanted to get qualified on Halifaxes as soon as possible so we could get our hands on a Lanc. After flying a Lancaster for the first time I remember thinking I had never flown such a magnificent aeroplane and I still think so to this day,’ he later wrote.

  The airfield at Blyton was very close to the village from which it took its name and this was to cause some problems for crews and villagers alike. On the night of September 7-8 the pilot of a Lancaster returning from a night cross-country exercise got his approach wrong and the wheels of his aircraft clipped the roof of a house in Kirton Road, Blyton – which backed onto one of the accommodation sites – before coming to grief on the airfield. Both crew and house occupants escaped injury.

  1 Group’s third HCU, 1667, was operating by the end of the summer and was to lose its first aircraft and crew at the end of September when Sgt Laurence Turley’s Lancaster crashed near Doncaster, killing all seven on board. 1667 began making use of the new airfield at Faldingworth that same month to ease the pressure at Lindholme. Gordon Neale was a flight engineer posted to Faldingworth in December 1943 from St Athan. He had never flown on a Halifax before and had to find himself a crew. There was a hurried conversion course at Faldingworth on the different fuel systems, electrics, hydraulics and controls of a Halifax before starting flying, this involving mastering take-offs and landings and then six cross country exercises. He was nearing the end of his training course when the whole unit was moved, mostly by train and bus, to Sandtoft. Two days later his crew, which included a pilot from Trinidad, two Canadians and four Englishmen, left for 1 LFS at Hemswell where they completed 10hrs 40 minutes flying on Lancasters over a snow-affected fortnight before going to 12 Squadron at Wickenby.

  Early autumn saw the withdrawal of most of the Lancasters still in service and the arrival of Halifaxes. This move coincided with Mk IIs and Mk Vs being withdrawn from Bomber Command’s Main Force operations because of heavy losses amongst squadrons using them. Neither could match the operating ceiling of the Lancaster and were proving easy meat for both German night fighter and anti-aircraft defences and their withdrawal provided a ready supply of aircraft for training squadrons. The Halifaxes were far from ideal but Lancasters were in short supply for squadrons and the HCUs would have to make the best of it.

  In the first six weeks of Halifax operations, the three 1 Group conversion units would lose nine aircraft and the lives of 40 airmen. On the night of December 16-17, when weather conditions were particularly bad over Lincolnshire and when over 30 bombers were lost in crashes on their return from Berlin, a Halifax II came down at Corringham, two miles from Blyton, killing the Australian crew of F/Sgt Gernault Vautier while a Halifax V crashed in poor visibility at Faldingworth, killing Sgt Reg Stoneman and his crew. January saw a succession of accidents: an engine fire over Devon accounted for F/Sgt Bill Wilson’s crew from Lindholme, F/Sgt Eric Rayner and his crew died in the Blyton circuit, again near the neighbouring village of Corringham, while a Halifax from 1667 was believed to have been shot down by flak after drifting over London during a night exercise. The worst accident occurred when a Halifax V from Faldingworth was on a cross-country exercise at 20,000 feet over South Wales. An engine failed and, as the aircraft lost height, the starboard wing suddenly folded, struck the tail and the Halifax went into an uncontrollable spin. The 20-year-old pilot, F/Sgt Paul Bennett, died along with the other eight men on board, their bodies being scattered amongst the wreckage of the Halifax over a wide area. The youngest member of the crew, Sgt John Gibb, was just 18 years old.

  Six men from Blyton were killed when their aircraft crashed near Haxey after, it is believed, the pilot, F/Sgt Wilfred Daly RAAF, took evasive action to avoid a mid-air collision. 1662 at Blyton was also tasked with training Polish crews
for 300 Squadron, which was in the process of re-equipping with Lancasters and moving into Faldingworth. Seven of their men were killed when their Halifax collided with another from 1667 HCU flown by Sgt Peter Street over the Misson bombing range, near Finningley. Eight men were killed in the 1667 Halifax and another eight were to be killed the following day when a Halifax on circuits around the unit’s new home at Sandtoft suddenly spun in from 700 feet. At the controls was instructor F/O Stan Burton DFC, who had recently completed a tour of operations with 625 Squadron at Kelstern.

  The Halifax IIs at Blyton were proving particularly problematic and four were wrecked in as many days. One of them was written off after a force landing close to Blyton village, the pilot, Sgt Albert Slade, being praised for his skilful handling of the emergency and helping his crew escape unscathed. Less than two months later he was dead, killed on his first operation with 576 Squadron at Elsham when he went along with F/Lt Ernest Presland’s crew on a mining trip off the Danish coast to gain operational experience.

  At Sandtoft P/O Joe Hetherington had the misfortunate to clip overhead power lines near Crowle, not far from the airfield. His Halifax V had suffered an engine fire and he was desperately trying to make it back to the airfield when the crash happened. He was injured in the crash but eventually recovered and resumed his training two months later at Lindholme only to be killed almost immediately in another training accident. P/O John Cann was more fortunate. He and his crew walked away unscathed after their Halifax was involved in a ground collision with another aircraft at Sandtoft. Shortly afterwards the crew joined 166 Squadron at Kirmington and were shot down over France during a raid on Stuttgart. The whole crew escaped again and all seven men were to evade capture, returning to their squadron after an eventful 45 days on the run. Their luck held out as they went on to complete their tour of operations.

  A rare picture of a crew about to leave 1 LFS at Hemswell. This was taken in the summer of 1944 and P/O Beeson’s crew went on to join 550 Squadron at North Killingholme. At the end of August their Lancaster was to be the last 1 Group aircraft to be shot down in the series of attacks on German V1 sites in Northern France, four of the crew surviving to become prisoners. (Author’s collection)

  Most trainee aircrew had little experience of combat. One man who did was 31-year-old F/O Ron ‘Pat’ Ross, who had served as a soldier before joining the RAF, winning a Military Medal in France and being awarded an MBE (Military Division). All that experience, however, was lost on April 1, 1944 when his 1656 HCU Halifax II flew into a hillside in Scotland, killing him and then other seven men on board.

  P/O Reg Watts survived a wheels-up landing at Sandtoft to join 460 Squadron at Binbrook, where he completed his tour and won a DFC only to be killed when he was posted as an instructor to 24 Operational Training Unit at Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire.

  One man who did have a miraculous escape was Sgt Robert McDonald, a rear gunner in a Sandtoft-based aircraft. The Halifax was on a night exercise at 10,000 feet not far from Lincoln when the pilot ordered the crew to bail out following an engine fire. When they assembled on the ground there was no trace of the missing gunner and it was only eight hours later, when the wreckage of the Halifax was being inspected where it crashed near Wragby, that his unconscious body was found, still strapped in his rear turret. He was taken to the RAF hospital at Rauceby, near Sleaford, once a lunatic asylum but by now the saviour of many airmen, where he was treated for serious head injuries.

  The flat areas in the Trent valley provided plenty of opportunities for low flying exercises which, in inexperienced hands, could add to the inherent dangers of HCU operations. Six men were killed flying from Sandtoft when F/O George Smyth – at 33 one of the oldest pilots in training – hit power cables near Thorne while eight were killed when P/O Edward Barley lost control of his Halifax at less than 200 feet near Alkborough. Among the dead was the instructor, F/Lt Ben McLaughlin, who had won his DFC with 12 Squadron at Wickenby. At Lindholme a Halifax flown by P/O Gilson Collins crashed when it appeared the pilot became disorientated while flying in misty conditions, while another from Sandtoft crashed at Bawtry in a bombing exercise on the Misson range. Bad weather also accounted for P/O Herbert Garthwaite’s Halifax, killing him and the other eight on board, including ex-460 Squadron instructor P/O Douglas Black. The Halifax ran into a heavy thunderstorm, became iced up and crashed in Rutland.

  Structural failures were still causing endless problems which even the best ground crews were unable to prevent. A Halifax V from Blyton crashed close to Swanland, near Hull after an aileron failure, killing both pilots, F/O Jack Esdale and F/Lt Leslie Cumberworth, whose family lived in Beverley five miles from the crash site. Some were more fortunate, like the Lindholme crew who’s Halifax II suffered an engine failure on its final approach causing a wing to dip, hit the ground sending the bomber cartwheeling across the airfield before bursting into flames. All seven men on board walked away with nothing more serious than cuts and bruises.

  Another crew walked away after their 1667 HCU aircraft struck a house in Belton village trying to overshoot at Sandtoft during dual circuit training. A few days later the same thing happened again, this time with tragic results. Australian pilot P/O Llewellyn Linklater suffered engine problems minutes into a cross country exercise, turned back and then tried to overshoot the main runway. In doing so his Halifax struck a bungalow in Sandtoft village, killing the occupants, a Mr and Mrs Wraith, the pilot and an unfortunate Sandtoft airman, LAC Tom Nixon (39), who was believed to have been passing the scene on his bicycle at the time.

  Sometimes, however, it was simple mistakes which led to tragedy, none more so than on the night of November 20, 1944 when, in the space of an hour, three Lindholme Halifaxes crashed and eleven men died because the wrong controls were selected. The first struck a house in Hatfield, near Doncaster, two minutes after take-off when, it was later discovered, the flaps were raised instead of the undercarriage, killing five of those on board, including the Canadian pilot F/O Michael Gleason. Ten minutes later another Halifax crashed when the bomb doors were opened by mistake. All six on board were injured, including the 19-year-old pilot, F/O Gerald Halsall, a young man who was to be killed on his first operation with 101 Squadron at Ludford the following February. The third crash came 50 minutes later and again involved flaps being raised instead of the undercarriage. Four of the six killed were Canadians, including the pilot, F/O John East.

  One for the album: a new crew at Sandtoft shortly after 1667 HCU moved there. They are the crew of Gordon Markes (second left) before they went on to join, first, 550 Squadron and then 150. Others on the photograph are (left to right) Vernon Wilkes, bomb-aimer, Bill Mann (RAAF) navigator, Frank Petch (RAAF) wireless operator, Ken Brotherhood, flight engineer, Danny Driscoll, gear gunner and Les Bucknell, mid-upper gunner. (Vernon Wilkes)

  By now operational control of the heavy conversion units had passed to 7 Group and the switch coincided with the start of the phasing out of Halifaxes and reintroduction of Lancasters. This helped speed up the pace of training, cutting out the need for crews going to the Lancaster Finishing School before progressing to their squadrons. It also saw a steady decline in flying accidents. It couldn’t stop them all, however. Five men died, including the pilot F/Lt Richard Eames, when a Lancaster on night circuits bounced so heavily on landing at Blyton it flew right across the houses in Kirton Road before crashing in flames alongside the village railway station some considerable distances away.

  Blyton’s last fatal accident occurred in mid-March when rear gunner Sgt Jack Ellarby from Leeds was killed when the Lancaster he was in crashed while trying to overshoot. Two weeks later flying ceased at the airfield and 1662 HCU disbanded, its job done. Bomber Command was by now awash with crews. Lindholme’s last fatalities had occurred back in February when a Lancaster flown by F/Sgt Robert Plante, failed to return from a night cross-country. It was last heard from in the Shrewsbury area and no trace of it or its seven-man crew was ever found. The final fata
l accident involving a 1667 HCU aircraft came with the war less than three weeks from its end, the aircraft breaking up and crashing at Owston Ferry, a few miles from the airfield, killing pilot P/O Howard Speed and the other seven men on board.

  1656 and 1667 HCUs did remain in being until the autumn of 1945 although flying training was rapidly wound down during the summer. Between them, the three conversion units in 1 Group fulfilled a vital, if largely unsung, role in maintaining the supply of trained crews. It was a task for which no medals would be struck although the cost, as we have seen, was a high one.

  Chapter 15

  One Man’s Story

  Thousands of young men were to fly with 1 Group during the war. Each had a different story to tell, many tragically with an abrupt ending which resulted in their documents being stamped ‘Missing in Action’. Although every story was personal, there was a common theme to them all, of measured and carefully managed training followed by an intensive period of operations. If they were fortunate enough to survive that then it was back to the training regime again, this time passing on their knowledge to those that followed.

  Today the best way to piece together that thread is through the log books of the men who took part, men like Keith Lewis, a wireless operator who flew with 625 Squadron at Kelstern and survived a tour of 31 operations in the spring and summer of 1944, when the bombing war was at its very peak of intensity. The story which unfolds from that log book mirrors that of many of his contemporaries. He was not one for embellishing the record, simply letting the facts speak for themselves, which makes it even more valuable to students of the bomber war.